2008.

Alas, so it has come to pass that another year has gone by without so much as a "hello" or "farewell".

This blissful, yet somewhat sad 365 days have been a sight to behold from where i am now, sitting infront of the screen, my siblings playing with the dog in my room, thinking of ways to make the next chapter of my life a more meaningful and memorable one. Yet i am stuck, stuck with this tight knot in my chest, stuck with the year 2008 and simply refusing to let it pass me by..

But as we all grow up, we remember the good and bad times, the best and the worst, the Mr.Ong lectures and the Mr.Ng controlling the entire school attempts. And these times will be what we depend on, what we look back at when we travel through time and space, through the infinite cosmos into.. 2009. From the very first entrance into class 5/2 to the final day the guys and i spent in that stuffy classroom, walking around in our boxers, painting the walls in orange, which by the way will always remind me of "Orange-loving Joyna Chua".

The uncountable times i slept at the back of the class, amid either Grace Low's chattering or Ms.Zaidah's robotic voice. The rebellious episodes when we reprimanded the teachers for reprimanding us, the hilarious chapters of 2008 when we took pictures of Yan Xiang drooling in his sleep, all over the table. And who can forget the Michael's oh-so funny actions that make him semi-retarded from an "Alex Yap" point of view. Then of course there is the "Alan Law aka. SK" escapades in the guys' toilet, and the radioactive waste he left behind in that tiny room that almost made extinct the Crestian population and started a new Ice Age.

Soccer was always the main event of each week, provided that i was present that day, which i almost always was. Knocking the little carbon ball around with my mates, namely Firdauz, Faisal, Amirul, Michael, Dzakir, Zulhelmi and of course the ballet-dancing/clown-fooling/classroom-drooling/soccer-wannabe, Ng Yan Xiang and that signature pair of glasses that never failed to fall off his big head once every two steps. Sometimes we won, and sometimes we lost. Sometimes we got hurt, sometimes we inflicted massive head-wounds that caused concussions of epic proportions that eventually led to death by "soccer ball to the head/groin". Yet the 5/2 boys always stuck together, there was never ONCE we had one of our own on another team, we always played as a team, scored as a team and triumphed victoriously as a team. Boots or no boots.

If i wasn't playing soccer or trying to come up with a revolutionary way of embarrassing Yan Xiang and destroying the school's reputation(if any) at the same time, i would have been in the Art Room. I'll always remember strutting past the little side room of the Art Class and turning left, through the main entrance, into the room where i've spent so many days of my miserable life in. The scene that'd greet me would be either many or close to zero students inside, either busily painting or sketching away listening to the new Coldplay song or just Mr.Ling doing what he always seemed to be doing when i stepped through the gateway into the artistic realm, using the laptop. To all the times i got my hands, shoes, pants dirty and the occasional face painting session, courtesy of Valerie, i really wished from the bottom of this beating muscle in my chest that i could have continued disobeying Mr.Ling and drawing mangrove trees and bald eagles and on Zulhelmi's sketches and whatnot.

And then there's the "Chronicles of the 5/2 Boys", taking place ONLY during recess time in the canteen, and occasionally the toilet. It became a third home to us, behind our real homes and PRCS as a whole. When we were finally allowed a breather and escaped the clutches of the teachers and the impending doom that signalled the end of our adventures in class, we would make our way down to the canteen. Sometimes quietly down the stairs, when all of us had just woken up from our slumber, sometimes creating noises that broke the sound barrier, when we had been awake all the while, busy cursing each other in class or getting Yan Xiang to toss crushed newspaper articles at Jeremy upfront and seeing the look on his face when the teacher confronted him. From the worth-your-money chinese food to the expensive-with-crappy-rice malay food, we always cut queues, only on very generous occasions would either Alex or me decide to queue up, much to the dismay of Mr.Singh when he arrived to usher us to assembly and realize we were only half done with our food.

To all the people and fools that made this past year a sight to behold, to all the people and weirdos that make me who i am, and finally to all the people and friends, and brothers, and sisters, and teachers, and mentors, and past-loves, i say Kudos! to each and every one of you for making this past year without doubt the best time of my life. To friendships that will never cease to be anything less, to relationsips that will always remain throughout the calm AND the storm.

I love each and every one of you for making my life what it is, for making me who i am, for giving me life in times of death. For stretching out your hand when i had sprained my ankle. For messaging me at the precise time my bus reached my stop just to wake me up. For holding my arm while we watched the fireworks under the drizzling rain. For believing in me when i had already lost sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. For passing me the soccer ball that eventually led to my one and solitary goal for the entire 2008 season of "PE Soccer". For making me laugh so hard on so many occasions that my eyes watered and i doubled over in histeric laughter that took a full 5 minutes to recover from.

If i had a hat, i would take it off to all of you.

I love you all, and to you 2008 : don't forget me.

Insight into the kid.

From Sally and Suee, long overdue.

The rules and regulations:

1.Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/little known facts about themself.
2.People who get tagged need to write their own 10 weird things/habits/little known facts.
3.At the end, player needs to choose 10 people to be tagged and list their names.
4. No tag-backs.

10 weird things/habits/little known facts about me.

1.I've got tattoos, running down my chest, arm and shoulder. So there, hate me.
2.I bite my lips alot, i don't know why. I can't seem to stop either, Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour perhaps?
3.I've always claimed that blogging was for losers, guess i'm one too.
4.My PSLE Aggregate score is 214, barely made the cut into PRCS my year.
5.I'm a Liverpool fanatic, now and forever! You'll Never Walk Alone, haha!
6.I like to pretend i'm a drummer when i listen to songs!
7.I like being rebellious and risky, it adds a spark of excitement to my life.
8.I aspire to be a Vet in the future, hence the Veterinary Science target at TP.
9.I like the color Yellow.
10.I hope to get married at the young and ripe age of 21 years old, haha!

My 10 people:

I'm too lazy, the game dies with me!

Intuition.

Okay, so Christmas day wasn't as perfect as one would assume.

I came home after work to find my Husky gone and my Dad watching television and with no possible explanation whatsoever on how she managed to free herself from the house. I'm still thinking my Dad let her out, wait.. he's not even a Dad to me! But all's well, i got Ivory back!

Then walked 45 minutes through East Coast Park, through all the happy campers and weirdos stuffing chicken wings down their throats faster than their stomachs can digest. Met Darryl and Alan, took a cab(which we ran after like dogs and ice cream trucks) back to E!Hub where we had Subway(Turkey Breast baby!) and watched Twilight. It's the worst movie i've watched in awhile, seriously. So all you avid Stephanie Meyer fans out there, stick to the books.

Y'know, i always imagined spending Christmas with you. Instead it was with my good friends. What does that tell you? Nothing actually, absolutely nothing..

The anatomy of life.

Life isn't "then", neither is it "when". Life is "this", "here" and "now".

I'm happy.

I'm happy for my dearest friends. I'm happy for everyone around me. I'm happy for those that are happy. I'm happy for my family. I'm happy for the lovers who have just gotten back together. I'm happy for the husband who just discovered his wife toy-boy. I'm happy for the children that run around at the neighbourhood playground. I'm happy for the early bird that gets the fattest worm. I'm happy for the seagulls that find their mates. I'm happy for magicians that successfully execute a trick. I'm happy for the woman who just found her wedding ring under the sink. I'm happy for the boy who just leveled up in Maple. I'm happy for the kid who finally turned 10 this December. I'm happy for the baby that finally stopped crying. I'm happy for the people out there who have finally realized Santa's never gonna' make their wishes come true. I'm happy for Lady Sarcasm that runs loops around Pasir Ris.

I'm happy for you.

Beautiful.

Your eyes are off-the-hinge.

Reminiscence.

I ran into her yesterday, and all those memories flooded into my brain. She said she was fine. She sure looked fine to me, all dressed up and looking awesome. It's been what, 3 years? Okay maybe even more since i last laid my eyes on her. And boy has she changed, what used to be baby fats is now tanned skin and a body with the curves. Dressed in a light blue dress, she looked absolutely stunning although i had no idea why she was dressed for the occasion. Her hair was what caught my eyes, it used to be all curly. Now it's wavy and silk-like, the way a girl's hair should be. We chatted for awhile, reminiscing about our younger days when we used to play together in primary school, when we ate pizza together on her birthday. I still remembered she gave me a pen with my name on it. She asked me whether i still had that pen in my posession, which i replied with a sad "No".

Still wondering whether i'll be allowed to go to school tomorrow to see the sec4s take their 'N' Level results. I'll just show up outside school and try to sneak into the hall.

For the new to come, the old must go.

Work today was totally crappy, i can't remember how many cereal bowls and cups i broke. At least Taufiq the manager just laughed it off, to my many sighs of relief. What's more i dropped the cup of hot chocolate i was preparing, seriously clumsy pls. I was having a normal and jovial chat with Nadyah, until she told me she was MARRIED and had a DAUGHTER. I was like, wtf wtf wtf? *stares at her in disbelief* And i thought we had something special going on Nadyah, ahaha!(just kidding :D) Anyone interested in having a romantic dinner at Desire, the Scarlet Hotel restaurant? Well, they've already started preparing for Valentine's Day 2009, it's a 6 course meal with complimentary champagne, but here's the catch. The predicted price PER PERSON is around $512. Yes ladies and gentlemen, not $5.12 or $51.20 but $512!

And i messaged mrNg, he says he'll get clearance for me to be a full-timer during the secondary one orientation camp at school next year, meaning i'll be helping out and entertaining little lower sec kids. Muahaha, Joycelyn and co. are most probably involved too, it'll be soooo fun! Can't wait for next year, so many revelations and discoveries await my friends and i. First to come would be the 'O' Level results, then joining an entirely new school. Then the orientation camp. Oh man, 2009's gonna' be one heck of a year, hopefully similar to 2008 but yet totally different. More action and adventures, minus the heartbreaks and heartaches. And of course.. less of Yan Xiang's drooling in classroom episodes.

Color my senses cherry Red.

I'm just delirious, because you were never serious. You're so infamous for leaving me a mess.

Love.

You could be happy, but i wouldn't know because you weren't happy the day i watched you go. And all the things i really wished i had not said, are played on loops until it's just madness in my head. Is it too late to remind you how we once were? But not our last days of your silence and my errors. Most of what i remember, makes me absolutely sure i should have stopped you from walking out the door. You should be happy, i earnestly hope you are. You made me happier than i had ever been by far. Somehow everything i own smells of you, and for the tiniest moment i wish it's all not true. You go ahead and do the things you've always wanted to, things you think make you look cool. More than anything i wanna see you grow, into a fine young woman with happiness, confidence and love no matter where you go.

Gravity of my Universe.

Haven't been blogging lately, too occupied with the hustle and bustle of everyday life of an adolescent male living in a metropolitan S'pore, amidst the economic crisis and environmental pollution, which by the way is killing us a cell at a time.

Working at Chijmes was great, made a bunch of new friends who all knew me before i even got to know them because of some silly incident of which i do not wish to remember. Jessie was extremely funny, eating the leftover wedding cake in the kitchen. Started work at Scarlet Hotel today, morning shift starts at 7am and ends approximately around 12pm. I'm basically the Bartender, i make all the drinks for the guests of the hotel, who by the way have to be filthy rich. From your usual Cappucino to something you might not be used to seeing like Sourz Apple wine. Farid and Marv from work are extremely friendly, especially Farid when he tries to act gay with the china dude.

Can't wait to get Ivory from the pet shop, she'll be the newest addition to my family although my parents still do not know i'm getting a 4 month old female Siberian Husky as a early Christmas present to myself.

Either you live and learn, or you crash and burn. But you must always gotta have the strength to pry your way out of the wreckage and rebuild what's left, always. Do what you gotta' do, for the sake of your loved ones and for the ones you love so desperately it hurts to see them hurt themselves.

I've got a distinct feeling you're the one.

Haven't been doing much today, woke up at like 11am. Been using the comp right up to now. Played quite a few matches of DotA. Then moved on to watching the drama "90210" online. It's a really great series, haven't finished the entire thing yet though. But i will soon! And for people out there who haven't heard of a band by the name of "Augustana", you should not waste another second. Go tune in to their music, they're really awesome and i'm hooked on their songs. With country/soul songs like "Boston" and "Hey Now", anyone who listens will feel the same way i do about them!

Rest. Shame. Love.

These few words keep reverberating in my mind.

I'm the blood in your veins.

I'm the cold when it rains.

I'm your heart when it breaks.

I'm the truth to your lie.

I'm your tears when you cry.

I will love you day and night.

Fishes in the sea, are abundant.

The 180 event by Victory Family was quite interesting to be honest, definitely wasn't as bad how i foresaw it would be. No cult rituals and sacrifices taking place at any altars to some demon goddess, right Joyna? I met up with Alex, Yan Xiang, Philbert and Darryl at the entrance of WhiteSands, then we made our way to Tampines Interchange. That was the rendezvous point set by Beverley and Shannon(who was wearing a shirt i wanna' buy!).

They shouldn't smoke actually, it's bad for health and it pollutes the already choking and suffocating environment, TSK! After their little environment-polluting session, we hiked over to Century Square for lunch. After the munching, insulting, complaining how little Alan ate and how much food he wastes, we went back to the Interchange and there we saw Nikki, Joyna, Shannon, Beverley(who left earlier with Shannon) and Jaena. While the guys stood there, blocking people's road and getting pissed off stares from some disapproving man, i chatted with the girls. Nikki and Shannon left to buy a cake for who i found out to be the emcee for the "180" event later on, Gladys right?

At the event, which is at Yishun, we realised there were many people, almost all teens and youths. And the thing is, everywhere you turn your head, you'll see some really beautiful girls. And Yan Xiang as usual, starts fighting with Alex to try(in vain) to attract some of the pretty damsels' attention. I think i might join Joyna's church, just to see the girls again. Yes i know it's punishable by God's law to go to church just to possibly enhance one's love life. If that's the case, you gotta' do better than just striking me with lightning dear God.

We played UNO and Murderer in the Board Games Room, which is located just beside Manicure Booth, which i didn't get the chance to experience, partly because those people were serious about painting my nails with some color that probably wouldn't compliment my skin tone. I was playing UNO and talking to Hui Min on MSN at the same time via my phone, and that stupid girl mistook me for another Chris! Even while sitting down i noticed this poor and lonely and really pretty girl standing at the doorway doing nothing. She had long hair(wooo!), was wearing a backpack which was really cute and she had that like rebellious kind of look on her face. I'm pretty sure Yan Xiang was looking at her, hahaha loser!

After the games everyone was ordered out of the room into the hallway. The main event was about to begin. And Joyna came to me and she said : "Oioioi, come here! Alot of pretty girls hor? Come come, show me which one you think is pretty, i wanna' know what's your type!". Silly girl sia Joyna Chua. And she wasn't lying because if you were with me yesterday, you'd be amazed by the fact that so many cute/pretty/beautiful/hot girls could even be in the same room and not start fighting to be crowned the "Fairest of them All". There was a group of girls standing beside us, and us means the guys. As usual, Yan Xiang purposely stood right beside them and tried to pick a fight with me, dude you gotta' pick up new tricks to getting noticed man. Darryl was in a trance, and kept staring at this one girl, who was pretty but looked too much like an ahlian for my liking, and he got caught! As in, the girl caught him staring at her and he was cursing, out of embarrassment!

The main event was okay, some huge room with a stage and music and some Pastor with a hilarious sense of humour preaching. There were games and a dance competition, which region 11/12 won hands down. Prizes such as a digital camera and an iPod Nano were given out to guest of the event. After everything had ended, we stuck around for more girl-scouting, babe-watching and chick-capturing before we went downstairs. And there was this one girl in particular, whom we met right at the start before the event, at Tampines Interchange. She's really good looking, height, hair and all but Joyna told me she was Sec1, which is like baby compared to me, hehe! And that perverted Philbert kept commenting about her bag strap and how it flattened her chest and i was like : "Huh? What the hell has that got to do with me..". Sick bastard you are Philbert! Okay to cut an already long story short, we returned to Tampines Interchange with a group of church friends via bus 969. From there we took bus 21 to Downtown East. I walked Joyna home, a trip which she claimed was very long but was infact extremely short, then i rejoined the rest meaning the guys, Beverley and Shannon and Lavette and some girl from PRCS. Had dinner at Subway, actually i only ate 3 chocolate chip cookies. Chatted with Beverley and Shannon on bus 12 until Simei(where they got off). Went home. Watched Chelsea lose to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge(YES!). Slept.